Detail

` The five 80-won definitive stamps featuring the waxwing, the oriole, the hoopoe, the kingfisher, and the roller will be replaced by a new stamp featuring the Japanese white-eye. These five stamps have been in circulation since 1986, but after July 1, 1997, the Japanese white-eye, a small lovely ? will become our new friend as a messenger of welcome news.The Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonica) is a resident bird of the Japanese white-eye family. The bird is often found in indeciduous forest and is widely distributed in the south of central Korea and in Japan. It is most prolific in the islands off the southern coast of Korea, in Cheju province, and on Ullungdo and Keojedo islands of Korea. This small bird is about 11.5 cm long. Its back is yellowish-red tint, and its belly is blotted white. It builds a bowl-like nest among the twigs of trees, and breeds in May and June, laying four to five white or pale blue eggs at a time. The white feathers around its eyes give it a ? and amusing appearance, as if it wore a white pair of glasses. A male and a female normally share a nest during the summer, but after breeding time, it gathers in groups to spend the winter. The Japanese white-eye`s diet consists of honey from camellia and ume flowers, in addition to insects, spiders, and other such creatures. `